05 September 2004 :

The Indian Supreme Court acquitted a member of the All Assam Tiger Force sentenced to death by a trial court for kidnapping and killing two boys. Allowing an appeal filed by the convict Paramananda Pegu, a bench comprising judges P.V. Reddi and B.P. Singh quashed a Guwahati High Court judgment confirming the lower court order, holding that it fell into serious error in not considering the case of the appellant separately.
Parmananda Pegu, along with his accomplice Jitu Pegu, had been charged with abducting Robindra Taid, 6, and Keshav Taid, 10, on June 28, 1999, and later murdering them. The trial court convicted and sentenced to death both the accused on March 4, 2002.
On an appeal, the high court confirmed the conviction and the sentence. The bench noted that in the confessional statement the appellant was alleged to have stated that he killed Robindra by strangulation, which was inconsistent with medical evidence which stated that the boy died of head injuries.
"Not a single circumstance or the fact proved corroborates the facts revealed in the confession," the bench said. The bench pointed out that Parmananda's confession relied on by the trial court and the high court had not been substantiated by any other evidence on record.
"Therefore, corroboration, even in a limited sense, does not exist in the case of the appellant.
"What is more, the cause of death as disclosed in the confession does not fit into the opinion of the medical expert," the bench observed. The bench was of the view that the high court had applied the evidence relating to the other accused (Jitu) to the appellant.
"This mix-up had led to miscarriage of justice," the judges said. The court noted that all the circumstantial evidence relied upon by the prosecution excepting the extra-judicial confession only pointed to the involvement of the other accused Jitu but not Parmananda.
"We, therefore, set aside the conviction of the appellant under sections 302 and 365 of the IPC and allow the appeal," the bench said directing him to be released.